Warming Up
by canarian
Summary: After the debacle that was their trip to Lima to see the McKinley High production of Grease, Kurt decides that he and Rachel need to go out and have some fun to try to forget about their heartbreak.


**A/N:** Reaction fic to 4x06: Glease. No real spoilers here, though.

* * *

"That is it," Kurt says, flinging his magazine down on the sofa. "I'm so sick of all this moping around. We're too young and fabulous to be this pathetic on a Saturday night."

Rachel looks up from the script she had been studying — or pretending to anyway — for the last hour and raises an eyebrow at Kurt.

"What do you suggest?" she asks.

Kurt looks thoughtful for a moment before leaning forward toward Rachel and bouncing on the cushions slightly as he temples his fingers beneath his chin. His face breaks into a wide grin.

"We should get dressed up, go to Callbacks, and pick up cute boys."

"I'm not sure I'm really in the mood…" Rachel begins.

"Don't you dare finish that sentence, Rachel Berry. I won't take no for an answer. We've wallowed long enough."

Rachel's face brightens into a small smile, letting Kurt know he's won. He gets up from his seat and holds out a hand to Rachel. She takes it with a tentative smile and lets Kurt twirl her on the spot.

"Now go put on your best 'I'm young, talented, and available' outfit," he says, "and let's go paint this town red. Or at least an obnoxious shade of fuchsia."

Rachel giggles and darts off to get ready.

* * *

When they finally get a table at Callbacks, Rachel immediately makes a beeline for the stage to put her name into the rotation. Kurt sits down in a chair and takes a tentative sip of his soda, glancing around the room.

He tries not to think about their last night out at Callbacks, and instead scans the room for cute boys. The guys here aren't bad — an upside to all the theatre and artist types that frequent the place, Kurt thinks. This night might not be so bad after all.

"I signed up for three different slots," Rachel says with a sigh as she takes her seat next to Kurt. "But I told Pascal to let a few others in front of me first. Give the crowd time to warm up."

Kurt indulges her with a smile as he takes another sip of his soda.

"Ooh, cutie at 9 o'clock," Rachel coos.

Kurt turns in the direction she is pointing and sees a tall blond with a playful smirk staring back at them.

"Not bad," he says. "Why don't you go offer to buy him a drink?"

"Oh, I don't know," Rachel says, lowering her head and playing with her straw. "That seems awfully forward."

"This from the girl who set up a picnic date with someone else's boyfriend under the guise of rehearsal," Kurt teases.

Rachel rolls her eyes playfully.

"Come on," Kurt says. "Live a little. What have you got to lose?"

She purses her lips and looks up at him.

"You know what? You're right. I'm going to do it," she says, twirling in her seat and hopping down from the stool. "Wish me luck."

Kurt watches her walk over to the other side of the bar and greet the stranger. She smiles coyly and twirls her hair as she begins to speak. Tall and Blond smiles back and replies to whatever it is Rachel has said. She glances back to Kurt and gives him a tight-lipped smile. When she looks back to the stranger, he reaches for a napkin and writes something on it and hands it to her.

Rachel returns to the table looking defeated as she flings the napkin down in front of Kurt. He glances down and sees 10 digits and the name Kevin. He looks up and takes in Rachel's expression again. He doesn't get it.

"Can you please explain to me the sad face because it looks like you got the guy's number?"

"No Kurt, _you_ got his number."

Kurt's jaw drops. "Excuse me?"

"Kevin asked me who the 'hottie with the good hair' was. And then he asked me to give you his phone number. Said you should call him sometime."

Rachel drops her chin in her hand and flicks the ice cubes in her glass with her straw. Kurt bites back a laugh as he chances a glance at Kevin. He winks and waves, and Kurt quickly returns his attention to Rachel.

"Don't get discouraged," Kurt says, patting her arm. "There are loads of other guys here."

"Like who?" she asks, looking completely dejected.

Kurt sits up taller and glances around the room.

"Like him," he says, pointing at a guy in a rugby shirt leaning on the bar. "I bet he's 100% straight and he keeps looking over here."

Rachel glances up and Rugby Shirt winks in their direction. Kurt lifts a hand to wave him over. Rugby Shirt turns toward the bar to retrieve a beer and heads in their direction.

"Hey," Kurt says. "This is my roommate Rachel."

"Hi, Rachel," he says. "I'm Steven. Do you guys go to NYADA?"

"Rachel does. I'm an intern at Vogue."

Steven's eyes go wide.

"Wow," he says. "Impressive."

Kurt tries not to preen too visibly under the praise.

"Rachel and I were just discussing the lack of available men here and I thought maybe you might have something to say on the matter," Kurt says.

Rachel smiles and leans toward Steven as he sits down. He sets his beer on the table and turns to face Kurt.

"I might know an eligible guy or two," he says, smiling.

Kurt jumps when he feels something brush his thigh. He looks down to see Steven's hand resting on his leg, thumb stroking lightly back and forth. Kurt sputters as he hears Rachel stifling a giggle behind her hand. When he looks up, Steven is smirking at him.

"My friend Lucas is straight if you needed someone to keep Rachel company," Steven says.

Kurt lifts an eyebrow at the forwardness of Steven's comment and reaches down to peel presumptuous fingers from his leg. He drops Steven's hand on the table near his beer.

"I wouldn't be much of an escort if I didn't see my roommate home," Kurt says through clenched teeth.

Steven shrugs and says, "Suit yourself." He grabs his beer and salutes them with it before heading back toward the bar.

"Oh _god_, that was so embarrassing," Rachel says once Steven is out of earshot.

"For me," Kurt says, looking disgusted. "At least that creep didn't come on to you. And what self-respecting gay guy wears rugby shirts? It should be against the law."

He reaches up to make sure his hair is still in place as he starts scoping the room again.

"Kurt, why don't we just go home?" Rachel says. "We're obviously not ready for this."

Kurt straightens in his chair and lifts an eyebrow.

"We are not quitters," he says.

"I don't look at it as quitting," Rachel says defiantly. "But maybe we should start smaller. Go for coffee or something. Instead of trying to pick up guys in a bar."

"Oh lighten up, Rachel. It's not like you have to sleep with any of them. We're here to get our confidence back and to stop pining over our exes. Now start looking for Mr. Right Now."

After several more failed attempts at setting Rachel up, Kurt is about to give up and go home. But then Pascal calls Rachel's name. Never one to pass up a chance to perform, Rachel bounds to the stage and starts belting out a tearful version of "Unbreak My Heart." Kurt is left at the table, staring at the watered-down dregs of his soda, wondering if he should order another or just wait it out. Maybe he can convince Rachel to leave after this song.

Then Kurt sees him: dark hair, medium build, well-tailored pants and a brightly colored cardigan. He smiles, and Kurt looks away shyly.

It doesn't occur to Kurt that the handsome stranger reminds him of anyone, least of all a certain ex boyfriend he's trying really hard NOT to think about. All Kurt knows is this is the first guy he's looked at all night and thought 'maybe.' When he looks back up, the guy is watching the stage, but when he feels Kurt's eyes on him, he turns his head in Kurt's direction.

Kurt's eyes fall to the table again, not wanting to come on too strongly, just in case. But he lets himself consider this guy. A date? Coffee maybe. Or ice skating. Definitely dinner. At some cute café where they serve pretentiously overpriced salads and sandwiches. They'd hold hands as they walk through Central Park. They'd kiss under the moonlight and he'd try to convince Kurt to come back to his place, but Kurt would smile and politely decline.

He smiles to himself and swirls his straw in his glass. He glances up and sees the stranger looking at him again. Kurt smiles and drops his gaze to the table.

Kurt is so caught up in fantasizing and not making eye contact, he doesn't even realize Rachel has finished her song and is now sitting down beside him.

"Oh he's cute," she says, nudging Kurt's arm. "Go say hi."

Her voice draws Kurt out of his daydream and he looks up to see that the stranger is on his feet and headed for their table. As he gets closer, Kurt can see he has bright green eyes and a friendly smile.

"Hi," he says, glancing from Kurt to Rachel and back again. "My name's Tom."

Kurt just stares open-mouthed for a moment, so Rachel speaks for him.

"Hi Tom," she says. "I'm Rachel, and this is my fabulous roommate, Kurt."

"Nice to meet you," Tom says. "I don't think I've seen you in here before."

Kurt glances down at his drink. Did this guy actually just use the "do you come here often?" line on him?

"We're not here much," Rachel replies when Kurt doesn't. "Too busy."

"No one should be too busy to have fun," Tom says with a laugh. He directs it at Rachel and his hair flops adorably in his eyes. He reaches up to brush it back. Something about that just sets Kurt off.

"Join us," Rachel says, oblivious to Kurt's sudden shift in mood.

"Actually we were just leaving," Kurt says, grabbing Rachel by the sleeve.

They're up and out of their seats and nearly to the door before Rachel can pry herself from Kurt's grip.

"Kurt, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. I just want to go home."

"What happened to 'oh lighten up, Rachel', Mr. Let's Go Pick up Cute Boys?"

"I changed my mind," Kurt says.

"What?" Rachel says, stopping short. "What are you talking about?"

"That guy," he says, gesturing behind them. "Doesn't he remind you of anyone?"

"Tom?" she asks, glancing back at the man now staring after the two of them from their table. Her eyes widen as understanding dawns on her. "Oh."

"Yeah…oh," Kurt says, grabbing his coat from the rack by the door. "So forgive me if I don't want to relive anything resembling a horrific night of drunken spin the bottle and spend the evening watching a guy who reminds me of Blaine hit on you."

"Oh honey," she says, reaching up to stroke his arm.

"I'm sorry, Rachel. I thought I was ready, but I guess I'm just not."

"It's ok," she says, grabbing her coat. "We can go."

"Thanks."

"For what it's worth," Rachel says, "I don't think he was hitting on me. In case you didn't notice, pretty much every guy we talked to tonight was interested in one Kurt Hummel."

She threads her arm through Kurt's and leans her head on his shoulder.

"Pretty sure you've been cast as the sexy, young ingénue," Kurt says.

"Not anymore," Rachel says fondly as she glances up at him. "Face it, Kurt, you're a hot commodity."

Something warms in Kurt's chest at the thought. Maybe she's right. It's possible that he's finally the kind of guy that can get picked up at a bar.

"You really think so?" he asks.

Rachel opens her mouth to answer, but she gets interrupted.

"Excuse me," a tentative voice says from behind them.

Kurt turns and sees a shorter guy about his age, who kind of reminds him of a Sam, except for the brown hair and glasses. Which are oversized and bordering on hipster, but it somehow works on him.

"You left this," the guy says, holding up Kurt's scarf.

"Thanks," Kurt says, taking it from him. He and Rachel turn to go.

"Hey, wait," the guy says. Kurt turns back to face him. "If you're not seeing anyone…um, I'd like to buy you a drink some time."

He shifts nervously on his feet and runs his hand over the back of his neck. Kurt finds it endearing, even if the guy's not really his type.

Kurt smiles. "Maybe another time," he says. And the guy's smile doesn't falter as he walks away.

"Don't start," Kurt says as Rachel begins to giggle.

"But…"

"Don't."

"But, Kurt…"

"No."

"Just let me say one thing," she says.

Kurt quirks an eyebrow and says, "Okay…._one_ thing."

Rachel smiles, a gleam of teasing affection in her eyes.

"Told you so."

He tries to ignore Rachel as she sings under her breath all the way back to Bushwick, poking at Kurt's sides.

"Oh Kurtie you're so fine…you're so fine you blow my mind. Hey Kurtie…hey, hey, hey Kurtie."

Kurt smiles to himself as he makes a decision. He may not be able to face Blaine or what happened, but maybe he doesn't have to. This isn't Lima and he's not the only gay kid anymore. He has options…if he wants them.


End file.
